Evaporator



Jan. 15, 1946.

w. R. WILLIAMSON EVAPQRATOR Filed Aug. 19, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet l m Rmww 4 WW IR A m 4/ a m m 6 3 Jan. 15, 1946. w. R. WILLIAMSON EVAPORATOR Filed Aug. 19, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 N B ud QM mm m Eu. 0 W M tent of the distillate, constant at a Patented Jan. 15, 1946 William R. Williamson,

to The Maxim Silencer Company,

of Connecticut Conn, a corporation Hartford, Conn, assignor Hartford,

Application August 19, 1944, Serial No. 550,213

6 Claims.

This invention relates to evaporators, particularly such as are adapted for the production from sea water of a distill-ate having a regulable salt poses for which evaporating and distilling apparatus is customarily employed. One object of the of such entrained water, and hence the salt conmay be held substantially desired level. A further object is ject is to provide an evaporator capable of operati'on under Referring to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a median section through one form of evaporator constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1';

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on line 3"3 of .Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an Fig. 1;

Fig. .5 is an enlarged section on line 5 5 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic representation of the path of the heating gases. I I

The evaporator is divided into a heating secenlarged section on line 4 4 of tion I, a separating and float control section 2,

and a condensing section 3. The heating section chamber 12 through casing 6 and shell 4, and an exit pipe l4 leaves the chamber in the same manner at a point about from the entrance pipe.

The exhaust gas is caused to pass any desired number of times, four as shown, along the length of the chamber 82 by a system of bafiies extending between shell 4 and tube 8 and best illustrated in the diagrammatic showing of Fig. 6. A baflle 15 extends the full distance between plates 7 and H at a point intermediate the entrance and exit pipes to cut off direct communication between them. At points spaced 90 around the chamber a bafiie It extends from the plate II and termi nates short of plate 7, a baffle l'l extends from plate I and terminates short of plate H, and a bailie I8 extends from plate H and terminates short of plate 'I. ihe gas passes up and down the chamber in the manner shown by the arrows in Fig. 6. Intermediate these bailles are fins l9 which, as well as the aforementioned baffles, serve as extended heating surfaces to increase the transfer of heat to tube 8. v

To a flange 20 on the top of shell 4 is clamped by bolts 2| the plate II and a flange22 on the bottom of a shell 23 forming the wall of a separating and float control chamber 24. This is also preferably lagged at 25 with insulation surrounded by a suitable casing. Within the shell 23 is a chamber 24 and plate 26 forming the bottom of forming between it and plate H a chamber 21 which serves as a foam-breaking and preliminary separating chamber. A relatively small openended tube 28 extends downwardly, centrally of the above-mentioned tube 8, nearly to the bottom of the latter, and supports around it on fins 29 (Fig. 4) a pipe 3!] open on both ends. The latter pipe, the space between which and tube 28 serves as a central annular downtake, preferably terminates at its upper end short of the upper end of the tube 8 and at its lower end short of the lower end of the tube 28. As will be described, water enters the heating space between tube 8 and pipe 30 through the tube 28 as shown by arrows 3| in Fig. 1, passes upwardly through this space, and then downwardly through the annular downtake for recirculation as shown by arrows 32. Steam, foam, and entrained water pass out through the top of tube 8 into the preliminary separating chamber 27.

Much of the foam is broken, and entrained water separated, by striking against plate 26. The chamber 2'! opens to a pipe 33 which leads through a regulable valve 34 to a water glass 35 which also serves as a return line to the heating into the chamber 21, thence chamber, being joined to the T-connection 9 by a pipe 36. A constantly open blow-off valve 31 is regulated as may be necessary to bleed from the system enough of the concentrate to prevent its concentration from rising to an undesirable degree. The straight path through pipe 33 to valve 34 takes a major part of the entrained water, a pipe 38 leaving pipe 33 upwardly at an abrupt angle to carry the steam. The pipe 38 joins, through a. manually controlled throttle valve 39, a pipe 40 which enters the upper part of the chamber 24 tangentially (Fig. 2). Some of the en. trained water will pass the entrance to pipe 38 by reason of its velocity and will thereby be separated from the steam, some will be separated in the pipe 38 itself and will run back, and the bulk of the remainder will be deposited onthe walls of chamber 24 by the whirling motion given to the steam by its tangential entrance and will run down to the bottom of the chamber where it may under suitable conditions pass down tube 28 to go again through the cycle described.

Secured to the top of the separating chamber as by a flange connection 4! is a shell 42 lagged as at 43 and having its top closed by a plate 44. Through this plate open tubes 45 and 46 extending down the outside of the lagged shell 42 to form a double condenser spiral 41 and merging into a common outlet 48 for the distillate. The spiral is surrounded by a shell 49 having a top plate 50 which forms a chamber 49a for sea water entering through a pipe provided with a suitable control valve 52. The water enters near the lower end of the condenser spiral and passes up along it so that, as is usual, the coolest water contacts the condenser at its discharge end. The major portion of the sea water is used only for cooling, 53 having an adjustable relief valve erably a combined pressure and temperature gauge connected at 55. A fraction of the sea water, for make-up purpose, passes downwardly through a central tube 56 which, at its lower end, is provided with a valve 51 controlled by a float 58.

As the steam, which has been largely separated from the water in chamber..24, passes upwardly through the interior of shell 42 it loses still more of its entrained water due to its relatively low velocity, and passes out through tubes 45 and 46 to the condenser spiral where it is condensed to water and delivered through outlet 48. The chamber 24 is thus at a pressure not very far from atmospheric depending on the discharge head of the distillate. 1

As a further explanation of the operation of the device, let us consider the train of events from a cold start. Before heat is supplied to the evaporator, the float valve '51'will permit the liquor to fill the system up to the level WLl. As heat is supplied to the tube 8 through the tortuous gas passageways hereinbeiore described, the liquor in the annular chamber formed between the concentric tubes 8 and 30 respectively becomes hot and commences to rise in pipe 38 due to its reduced density as compared with the cold liquor in chamber 24. The hot liquor passes upwardly through the nipple 33, the pipe 38, the open valve 39 and the tangentially disposed pipe 40 into the separator chamber 24. Thiscan be considered as ordinary thermosiphon action and continues until the liquor reaches a steaming temperature, the initially present cold water in the ehamber24 having passed downwardly through the pipe 28,

normally high water resulting in less pressure 39. The level WLz -in entrained water will increase Prior to reaching a steaming temperature, the pressure drop through the aforementioned upward path is low due to the low velocity therethrough but, as steaming starts, the volume of flow of hot water and a certain amount of entrained steam increases rapidly, resulting in an appreciable pressure drop through this path. This differential pressure results in the cham ber 21 being at a correspondingly higher pressure than the chamber 24. Therefore some of the water in chamber 21 is forced through pipe 28 into chamber 24, the water level in the chamber 24 is raised somewhat above WLI. This ablevel in chamber 24 is soon reduced to W111 as evaporation progresses.

.It is obvious that the difference in water levels in the chambers 24 and 21 is'equal to the pressure drop through the aforementioned upward path, and therefore the level Win in chamber 21 likewise continues to be reduced until the water in the chamber 24 reaches WLi. Any tendency for the water level in chamber 24 to become lower than WLi permits the float 58 to open the valve 51 and so permit the entrance of make-up water from the chamber 49a and the pipe '56. The level WLl is thus automatically maintained once steaming is well under way. The valve 39 and its associated piping has now, of course, been cleared of water with its entrained steam, as previously mentioned, and is filled with steam accompanied by a certain amount of entrained water. The device is now in normal operation, with the water level in chamber 24 never varying appreciably from W111 and the water level in chamber 21 being at WLz where it may be readily seen in the water gauge 35. The actual water level WL2 is determined by the setting of the valve 39. The automatic control is due to threefold action; firstly, the normal pressure drop due to steam passing through the valve 39; secondly, the pressure drop due to entrained water passing through said valve; and thirdly, the effect of changing steaming rate as heating surface is covered or uncovered' by the changingwater level WLz.

The first of these effects has been discussed. The effect of entrained water is to further increase the pressure drop through the valve 39. This immediately results in a lowering of W'Lz with an attendant increase in separating efliciency, thus dryingthe steam both mechanically and thermally. This drying results in less pressure drop due to the second effect and the level is soon restored to Win. When W'Lc is lowered, less water is in contact with the heating surface of the tube 8 and therefore less steam is generated drop through the valve therefore rises on this account. All three of these efiects conspire to maintain the level WLz in the heating section I at any desired point, depending on the degree of salinity required, upon the foaming properties of the liquid to be distilled, and upon the amount of heat supplied.

The saline content of the distillate is maintained. at a substantially constant percentage determinable by the setting of valve 39. If this valve be relatively open, the pressure drop through it will not be high and a higher level of water in the heating chamber will be maintained. A high water level means that more entrained water will be carried in'the steam, as there is less space for drying of the wet steam in the upper portion of the heating chamber and it is easier for foam and spray to reach the pipe 33. While this increase the pressure drop water from the boiler through valve 39, as was described above, this efiect will not be as pronounced as with reduced openings of the valve. The result is a relatively rapid feeding of water through float valve 51, a high water level in the heating chamber, and a relatively high carry-over of entrained water through the condensing system. Since the saline content of the distillate comes only from the entrained water, this content will also be high. It will be seen that control of the salt content of the distillate may be controlled by valve 39 irrespective of the foaming characteristics of the liquid and of the amount of heat available from the exhaust connection l3. The quantity of distillate delivered will of course be varied by this control, but for most purposes for which this evaporator will be used the quality of the distillate is of more importance than its quantity.

Due to the circulation within and around pipe 8 a high rate of passage over the heating surfaces will result, whereby the deposition of scale is kept down, and the heat transfer rate is increased. |As degree of concentration of be kept down to the desired degree by regulating the setting of the continuously acting blow-ofi valve 31 or by periodic opening'of valve In.

I claim:

1. An evaporator comprising a boiler, a float chamber above the boiler for supplying water thereto, a float valve controlling the supply of water to the float chamber and operated by the water level in said chamber to maintain a minimum level therein, a constantly open connection between the bottom of the float chamber and the bottom of the boiler allowing passage of water in either direction, a connection from the top of the boiler having a tangential opening into the fioat chamber to convey steam and any entrained to the chamber, said connection being sufiiciently restricted so that the ing to force water from th former to the latter, and a condenser receiving steam from the upper part of the float chambe 2. An evaporator comprising a boiler, a, constant level chamber above the boiler for supplying water thereto, a connection between the bottom of the constant level chamber and the bottom of'the boiler allowing passage of water in either direction, a connection between the boiler and the constant level chamber to convey steam and any entrained water from the boiler to the chamber, said connection being sufllciently restricted to produce an increase in pressure drop between the boiler and the chamber as the conreceiving steam from the constant level chamber.

a boiler, a conthe boiler allowing pasdirection, a connection her and the bottom of sage of water in either between the top of the boiler and the constant level chamber to convey steam and any entrained water from the boiler to the chamber, said connection entering the upper portion of the constant level chamber tangentially so as to precipitate entrained water therein, and being sufiiciently restricted to produce an increase in pressure drop between'the boiler and the chamber as the content of entrained water in the steam passing through said chamber increases, to cause passage of water through the constantly open connection to the constant level chamber from the boiler, and a condenser receiving steam from the constant level chamber.

4. An evaporator comprising a boiler, a constant level chamber above the boiler for supplying water thereto, a constantly open connection between the constant level chamber and the botdrop between the boiler and the chamber and thus lower the water level in the boiler by upthe constant level chamber.

5. An evaporator comprising a boiler, a constant level chamber above the boiler for supplying water thereto, a constantly open connection between the constant level chamber and the bottom of the boiler allowing passage of water in either direction, a connection for steam and any entrained water between the top of the boiler entering the upper portion of the constant level chamber tangentially so as to precipitate entrained water therein, an adjustable valve in said connection whereby it may be restricted to produce a desired pressure drop between the boiler and the chamber and thus lower the water level steam space, a water connection between the,

separating chamber and the lower part of the WILLIAM R. WILLIAZMSON. 

